Anyone read Fifty Shades of Grey? That bestselling novel was originally a Twilight fanfiction. It’s been overwhelmingly considered a terrible book with bad writing and horrible editing. Incredible that it became a movie. Does this make fanfiction a valid form of literature? Well, this week’s question comes from OpheliaMorse.

Question 30: What do you think of fan fiction as a writing medium? Do you think it has credibility despite the subject matter?

I think fan fiction has an emotional credibility, if nothing else. Look, I really like fan fiction — I’m the one from a previous answer who said that’s what they wanted out of writing. Some can be extremely inventive, or emotionally resonant, or tie things up better than the author did; others can be ham-handed self-insertion or plot-less sex. All of that is fine, in my opinion. They all show engagement with the source…